The new baddie in the show will be Darth Vader’s dark emissary, the warrior charged with hunting down and destroying any remaining Jedi. As we’ve already learned, the heroes will be a group of younger characters on the run from the embryonic Empire and its growing fleet of Star Destroyers.

“Rebels will be different from The Clone Wars in a couple ways, and one is the decision to stick with one story and one main group of characters,” Filoni tells the LA Times. “We wanted fans to get to know the new characters and what they are fighting for. Each episode has its own unique story, while still fitting into the much larger picture of what is going on in the Star Wars universe. Rebels will tell the story of a group of characters, in this way it is more like the original trilogy which followed Han, Luke and Leia, where the prequels showed us the grand scale and political as well as personal."

And if you’re still mourning the loss of Clone Wars, Filoni brings glad tidings: “There are several episodes of Clone Wars the fans have yet to see. I’ve finalized the remaining episodes and I think they will really please the diehard Clone Wars fans, especially the story arc with Master Yoda — that one is critical to the bigger picture. Star Wars Rebels will be its own series with its own characters. That’s not to say characters from other Star Wars media couldn’t make an appearance in the series, but Rebels will be distinctive for its own new characters and relationships." Rebels is set to hit screens next year.